South Cook News

Thornton Township and its dishonorable Supervisor, Tiffany Henyard, recently passed another patently offensive, unlawful, and self-serving compensation setting ordinance for its elected officials.  The Local Government Officer Compensation Act is clear. The compensation setting is tied to the Office, not to a person.

The Thornton Township Trustees who voted to approve this should hang their heads in shame.

We wrote about the previous compensation ordinance violating state law 18 months ago and urged any resident to challenge it in court (here). We wrote about the township’s passing of unlawful additional compensation during their terms of office (here). We also spoke on this subject during the township’s Sep 17, 2022, public meeting – watch it here.

“If you dare challenge us and run for office, we will screw you over”

Now comes double-dipping Supervisor Tiffany Henyard and the Township Board of Trustees who doubled down on their unlawful elected official compensation setting ordinance last month, and we again ask township residents to find a good attorney to challenge this ordinance in court as it cannot stand as passed.

This ordinance is purely self-serving and will virtually ensure no one else runs for any township office in Thorton Township, keeping the current officeholders in power with their current bloated salaries and benefits. We say this because very few people are willing to serve their community let alone serve in the largest Township in Illinois for so little compensation.  Maybe some good folks will step up and serve for the right reasons and prove our assumption on this point wrong.

A newly elected Township Supervisor will receive $25K annually, however, Henyard, if reelected, will continue to receive more than $260K, which includes more than $59K for “expenses,” plus outrageous travel expense reimbursements (between $250 and $600 per day) and insurance for as long as she retains her office.

A newly elected Trustee will receive $5K annually, however, any currently serving trustee will continue to receive “up to” $42K plus expenses and outrageous travel reimbursements for as long as they remain in office.

A newly elected Road Commissioner will receive $12K annually, however, the currently serving road commissioner will continue to receive his “up to” $60K for as long as he retains his office.

A newly elected Clerk and Assessor will receive $12K, while currently serving Clerk and Assessor will continue to receive their “up to” $59K and $101K, respectively, for as long as they retain their offices.

We would have loved to have written about how this township slashed its elected official’s salaries by 80%, but unfortunately, this ordinance is nothing but a “screw you” to anyone attempting to challenge incumbents of a Thornton Township public office.

This story was originally published by Edgar County Watchdogs. Read the original HERE.